First Reading: Exodus 20:1-17
Reflection:
In this Sunday’s First Reading we hear the well-known Ten Commandments. These commandments were given by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai over 3,000 years ago. Still, they have as much importance and relevance for us today as for the Israelites who first received them so long ago. God teaches His people, past and present, how to live rightly. The Ten Commandments, of course, are not an exhaustive list of how to live, but they give us the foundation for morality. When we think of these commandments, we may think of a long list of “Thou shall nots.” But this is not merely a list of “no’s.” It is, in fact, more about one profound “yes” to God. He invites us to worship Him with all of our hearts. Remember what Jesus said summarizes all these laws: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). In other words, offer your entire life to God. If you’re saying “yes” to God, then you will automatically be saying “no” to all the things prohibited in the Ten Commandments. God wants us to be in right relationship with Him, for that is what is best for us. In the Ten Commandments, He has given us a roadmap for how to do that. They are like the guardrails keeping us on the road. In them, God teaches us not only how to be in right relationship with Him but also how to be in right relationship with one another. Remember the second greatest commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). This summarizes commandments four through ten that are all oriented toward human relationships. God, therefore, is teaching us how to have a right relationship with Him and with one another. Furthermore, God has not only told us how to live, He has given us what we need to successfully do so. The grace available to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to fulfill the law, which we couldn’t do with merely our own will-power.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:22-25
Reflection:
In their expectations of the Messiah, the Jews looked for signs to indicate his coming, and the Greeks (who weren’t necessarily looking for a Messiah) looked for wisdom. Paul here explains that the Christian message is focused, ultimately, on neither of these but on the crucifixion of Jesus (Jesus certainly did bring signs and wisdom, but they were not the types the people were looking for). This was not what anyone had expected. It was unfathomable that the Messiah would be killed in such a brutal way by the Romans, who were the enemies of the Jews. That would have appeared as utter defeat and a sure sign that Jesus was not the Messiah. Still, the reality is that Jesus is the Messiah and He died on the cross. This is the message of Christianity that often is a “stumbling block” and “foolishness” to those who do not see with the eyes of faith. But Jesus was not defeated by the cross. There is more to the story. The cross was, in fact, His victory over sin and death, and His resurrection proved that. Through the eyes of faith, we can understand that this is, in fact, the “power and wisdom of God.”
Gospel Reading: John 2:13-25
Reflection:
This famous scene of Jesus driving the money-changers out of the Temple can seem perplexing. Why did Jesus do that? Jesus had righteous anger toward those who were taking advantage of people through a dishonest exchange of goods. Jesus’ indignation was not necessarily aimed strictly towards the sale of items at the Temple, but specifically towards the fact that they were taking advantage of people by offering unjust prices and giving outrageous exchange rates for currency being changed to the necessary form for the Temple tax. Jesus did not tolerate those who disrespected the place of worship designated by God. He also used this situation to teach something profound about Himself and His mission. In saying, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up,” he was not speaking of the Jewish Temple itself, but of His body. Thus, He revealed that He came to bring a new order of worship and to establish a new temple, which would bring to fulfillment the old one. The new temple is not a building, but is the very person of Jesus Christ Himself. This temple would be destroyed at the crucifixion and restored at the resurrection three days later. In fact, the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70 and has never been re-built. Thus, our worship is to be centered on Jesus in the Church, not on the old Temple. He leads us into true worship of God, and, in fact, invites us to be temples of the Holy Spirit ourselves by virtue of our baptism into Christ.
Application:
- Which of the Ten Commandments do you struggle the most with keeping? Ask God for the grace to help you keep it, remembering that it is not by will-power but through the power of God working in and through us that we can best keep the commandments.
- Jesus cleansed the Temple, instituted Himself as the new Temple, and makes us into temples of the Holy Spirit. What parts of your temple need to be cleansed? Call to mind the sins you regularly struggle with and invite Jesus in to drive those out of your life.
